The average delay between a doctor’s visit and receiving CNS (National Health Fund) reimbursement was recently quantified by the Minister of Health and Social Security, Martine Deprez. This figure was provided in response to a parliamentary question raised by Pirate Party politician, Sven Clément. The results may raise some eyebrows as over the past four years, this delay has been estimated to be 56 days.
This calculation includes “all forms of requests for reimbursement,” regardless of how much time it took for a person to submit the medical fees to the CNS for reimbursement. On average, an insured person must wait almost two months to be reimbursed in Luxembourg. This is particularly a problem for low income households. However, it is worth noting that under certain conditions, individuals can visit a CNS agency to receive their reimbursement immediately.
In the majority of cases however, people tend to send their medical bills to the CNS “reimbursement service.” The good news is that the delay has decreased since 2020. In fact, in the middle of the pandemic, reimbursements took an average of 72 days after a medical visit. The following years, this delay has decreased progressively: 61 days in 2021, 51 in 2022 and 50 in 2023.
In her parliamentary response on April 5, Minister Deprez highlighted that the delay has decreased to 46 days as of the beginning of this year, to one month and a half.
It is questionable whether Minister Deprez’s answer will satisfy residents who are still waiting for the long-promised extension of the social direct settlement system in Luxembourg, which would allow individuals to not pay the entirety of their medical fees upfront. The government had promised its implementation by the end of 2023.
It seems that the universal direct settlement system is still far from being adopted by practitioners in the Grand-Duchy. According to the latest figures, only around fifteen general practitioners have adopted the system. This issue was not addressed by Minister Deprez in her recent parliamentary correspondence. At this rate, postal reimbursement requests are unlikely to decrease.
